Ingberg Edvin, Gudjonsdottir Johanna, Theodorsson Elvar, Theodorsson Annette, Ström Jakob O
Division of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Department of Clinical Chemistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Center for Diagnostics, Linköping University, Region Östergötland, Linköping, Sweden.
Division of Neuroscience, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Anaesthetics, Operations and Specialty Surgery Center, Linköping University, Region Östergötland, Linköping, Sweden.
BMC Neurosci. 2015 Aug 5;16:50. doi: 10.1186/s12868-015-0189-8.
The elevated body swing test (EBST) is a behavioral test used to evaluate experimental stroke in rodents. The basic idea is that when the animal is suspended vertically by the tail, it will swing its head laterally to the left or right depending on lesion side. In a previous study from our lab using the EBST after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo), rats swung contralateral to the infarct day 1 post-MCAo, but ipsilateral day 3 post-MCAo. This shift was unexpected and prompted us to perform the present study. First, the literature was systematically reviewed to elucidate whether a similar shift had been noticed before, and if consensus existed regarding swing direction. Secondly, an experiment was conducted to systematically investigate the suggested behavior. Eighty-three adult male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to MCAo or sham surgery and the EBST was performed up to 7 days after the lesion.
Both experimentally and through systematic literature review, the present study shows that the direction of biased swing activity in the EBST for rodents after cerebral ischemia can differ and even shift over time in some situations. The EBST curve for females was significantly different from that of males after the same occlusion time (p = 0.023).
This study highlights the importance of adequate reporting of behavioral tests for lateralization and it is concluded that the EBST cannot be recommended as a test for motor asymmetry after MCAo in rats.
身体摆动增强试验（EBST）是一种用于评估啮齿动物实验性中风的行为测试。其基本原理是，当动物被尾巴垂直悬吊时，它会根据损伤侧将头部向左侧或右侧横向摆动。在我们实验室之前的一项研究中，使用大脑中动脉闭塞（MCAo）后的EBST，大鼠在MCAo后第1天向梗死对侧摆动，但在MCAo后第3天向同侧摆动。这种转变出乎意料，促使我们开展本研究。首先，系统回顾文献，以阐明之前是否注意到类似的转变，以及在摆动方向上是否存在共识。其次，进行了一项实验，以系统地研究这种推测的行为。83只成年雄性和雌性Sprague-Dawley大鼠接受了MCAo或假手术，并在损伤后长达7天进行EBST。
通过实验和系统的文献回顾，本研究表明，大脑缺血后啮齿动物在EBST中偏向摆动活动的方向可能不同，甚至在某些情况下会随时间发生变化。在相同的闭塞时间后，雌性大鼠的EBST曲线与雄性大鼠的曲线有显著差异（p = 0.023）。
本研究强调了充分报告用于评估偏侧化的行为测试的重要性，并得出结论，不建议将EBST作为大鼠MCAo后运动不对称性的测试。
